Ok, so I fucked up. While heading home from working out today my wife texted me asking where I was. I hit talk to text and was responding when I got pulled over for texting and driving. I didn't know talk to text was exactly the same as texting but I should have.

The officer was incredibly nice and I was to him as well. I fucked up.

My question. The officer said it would not be a bad idea to go to my court date and ask for leniency / a prayer for judgment for my first offense and what could be my first moving violation in well over a decade.

Do I plead guilty and ask for leniency and explain my case about the talk to text? How should I proceed?

Thanks.

It's almost axiomatic that you should go to court on moving violations. Why on earth would you pay the fine (plead guilty) and take the points voluntarily without seeing if you could get out from under them?

You'd really have to piss off a judge hearing a traffic docket to do worse than the ticket.

-Rob

I'm definitely going to court. That is not a question. I just don't know how exactly to proceed.

Plead guilty and explain the situation seem most logical. Right? I obviously broke the law. I do not deny that. I just want to know the best way to try to keep it off my record and from impacting my insurance.

if its your first offense, NC has a "prayer for judgement continued" you can use. I don't remember all the ins-and-outs of using the PJC plea, but in high school, some friends used it on a first speeding ticket and got it greatly reduced or dismissed. but some people would talk about paying smaller fines in order to "save" the PJC plea for something bigger.

Google brought this explanation up.

This is my first offense in NC. I got a few speeding tickets in VA but that was well over a decade ago.

When you say you "hit talk to text", what exactly does that mean? Did you look at the text, then hit respond, then hit the microphone icon to do speech to text?

Or did you respond without looking by hitting your command button (for Siri, etc.)?

If the former, then I think you were texting, but if the latter, I would strongly argue that this is not texting within the meaning of the statute.

I'm not sure if you all are aware, but with an iPhone if I get a text, I can hit the button and say read me my text. It will read it to me. I can also hit button and say "reply", or "send a text", and all that can be done without looking at the phone.

Even if the former, I would explain to the judge that you were not typing a text response, and that you didn't realize that what you did was a violation.

I actually think that many of these laws would not survive aggressive legal challenges. Why is it illegal to look at your phone, but not to look at the radio to change the stations? Or to read a magazine, or eat, or put on makeup? Clearly distracted driving is a public safety hazard and should be illegal, but I think there should be a required element of actual distraction. If you veer out of your lane slightly, you should get a ticket, regardless of whether you were looking at your phone, radio, or eating. If you glance quickly, as we do with gauges and such, while driving carefully, then I don't agree with the illegality just because of the object you chose to glance at.

Print copies of your driving record for the last 10 years, go to court, pay fine, no points. In that order. When the assistant prosecutor sees you are a good guy without priors they usually hit you with a lesser charge.

How about - I don't know - asking a local lawyer how you should proceed? Because of license to practice law.

Surely you know at least one lawyer - even if you don't hire him, you could some advice based on actual knowledge.

Dusty is right....have your driving record in hand, talk to the ADA and admit it was poor judgment for an otherwise very safe driver. Decent chance it gets dismissed....if not, ask the ADA to consider "improper equipment". Pay the fine & costs, but no insurance pts.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
How about - I don't know - asking a local lawyer how you should proceed? Because of license to practice law.

Surely you know at least one lawyer - even if you don't hire him, you could some advice based on actual knowledge.

Buzzkill.

Thanks for my ruining my wild speculation about a different states law.

Back to the OP, I'd plead insanity, if that doesn't work try pleading the fifth. Those two seem to work sometimes on Law&Order.

Go to court, they will more than likely reduce the charges, but keep the fine.

Last ticket I fought, I was on a motorcycle. Very weird Pennsylvania 4 way intersection, one direction has the right of way. When it was my turn, I was about to get sandwiched between 2 cars, so I hit the throttle

Got pulled over. Probably said some things to the cop I shouldn't have, but basically asked why didn't he pullover either of the other drivers, as I had the right of way.

I got hit with reckless driving, and crossing the center line. I showed up to court with pictures of the intersection, which had no visible lines. Mentioned it was 5am, and even if their were lines, it was dark. Also the officer was behind a line of cars, 5 cars deep, coming uphill.

They dropped the charges to "failure to follow traffic signals" or something. But kept the fine. My insurance didn't go up. The judge did ask why I accelerated like I did. I told him if I didn't, I wouldn't be alive to pay my fine.

Sometimes you just have to suck it up. The important thing is keeping your insurance down, and points off your license.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
How about - I don't know - asking a local lawyer how you should proceed? Because of license to practice law.

Surely you know at least one lawyer - even if you don't hire him, you could some advice based on actual knowledge.

Hey at least he TRIED to avoid wild ass guesses by asking for NC police officers in the thread title!

§ 20-137.4A. Unlawful use of mobile telephone for text messaging or electronic mail.
(a) Offense. - It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a vehicle on a public street or highway or public vehicular area while using a mobile telephone to:
(1) Manually enter multiple letters or text in the device as a means of communicating with another person; or
(2) Read any electronic mail or text message transmitted to the device or stored within the device, provided that this prohibition shall not apply to any name or number stored in the device nor to any caller identification information.
(a1) Motor Carrier Offense. - It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a commercial motor vehicle subject to Part 390 or 392 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations on a public street or highway or public vehicular area while using a mobile telephone or other electronic device in violation of those Parts. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the use of hands-free technology.
(b) Exceptions. - The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1) The operator of a vehicle that is lawfully parked or stopped.
(2) Any of the following while in the performance of their official duties: a law enforcement officer; a member of a fire department; or the operator of a public or private ambulance.
(3) The use of factory-installed or aftermarket global positioning systems (GPS) or wireless communications devices used to transmit or receive data as part of a digital dispatch system.
(4) The use of voice operated technology.
(c) Penalty. - A violation of this section while operating a school bus, as defined in G.S. 20-137.4(a)(4), shall be a Class 2 misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00). Any other violation of this section shall be an infraction and shall be punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and the costs of court.
No drivers license points or insurance surcharge shall be assessed as a result of a violation of this section. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall not constitute negligence per se or contributory negligence per se by the operator in any action for the recovery of damages arising out of the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a vehicle. (2009-135, s. 2; 2012-78, s. 9.)

Go see a lawyer in the county the citation was issued. Ask him about PJC. Then see if going and pleading guilty and asking for a PJC, is worth your time to spend in going to court all day is worth vs sending a lawyer. BTW the judge will need a certified copy of your DMV record if you represent yourself (plan ahead of time it takes a couple of weeks from DMV)

From your description it sounds like you did break the law.

Don't call your insurance guy abou this...there are no points awarded

I am not a lawyer but lawyers are always talking to me.

Ask the prosecutor if you could have it reduced to a no point violation. Yes. You'll end up paying the fine and court costs but it shows up as an equipment violation or something.

My brother came back to Ohio for the first time in 20 years for our sister's wedding and promptly got a speeding ticket from a trooper. My brother then left town. I called the prosecutor and asked about dropping it to a non moving violation. He agreed. Cost me $125! But hey that's what brothers are for. Haven't seen him in 20 years and it costs me $125!

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
§ 20-137.4A. Unlawful use of mobile telephone for text messaging or electronic mail.
(a) Offense. - It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a vehicle on a public street or highway or public vehicular area while using a mobile telephone to:
(1) Manually enter multiple letters or text in the device as a means of communicating with another person; or
(2) Read any electronic mail or text message transmitted to the device or stored within the device, provided that this prohibition shall not apply to any name or number stored in the device nor to any caller identification information.
(a1) Motor Carrier Offense. - It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a commercial motor vehicle subject to Part 390 or 392 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations on a public street or highway or public vehicular area while using a mobile telephone or other electronic device in violation of those Parts. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit the use of hands-free technology.
(b) Exceptions. - The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1) The operator of a vehicle that is lawfully parked or stopped.
(2) Any of the following while in the performance of their official duties: a law enforcement officer; a member of a fire department; or the operator of a public or private ambulance.
(3) The use of factory-installed or aftermarket global positioning systems (GPS) or wireless communications devices used to transmit or receive data as part of a digital dispatch system.
(4) The use of voice operated technology.
(c) Penalty. - A violation of this section while operating a school bus, as defined in G.S. 20-137.4(a)(4), shall be a Class 2 misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00). Any other violation of this section shall be an infraction and shall be punishable by a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and the costs of court.
No drivers license points or insurance surcharge shall be assessed as a result of a violation of this section. Failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall not constitute negligence per se or contributory negligence per se by the operator in any action for the recovery of damages arising out of the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a vehicle. (2009-135, s. 2; 2012-78, s. 9.)

Did he cite you for reading the text or replying to the text? If the latter, is looks like you may have a defense.

I was cited for hitting multiple letters which I did not do. The way the law is written they can still get me for looking at my phone so it doesn't really matter.

Mike, It is a moving violation so it can still impact my insurance rate correct?

Stickman, are you in 1A or 1B and what is your court date?

1B. 4/27

My plan is to go, represent myself, show my driving record and that I have set my phone to not allow me to receive texts while driving. Hopefully the Sprint store can help me supply paperwork showing this has been done. I messed up but when I ask for leniency I want to show that I made an effort to correct the issue and make sure it doesn't happen again.

We have a newborn baby who kept us up all night. Normally I would just have called my wife but I didn't want to risk waking our baby up if my wife was still in bed, which after the night we had last night was a real possibility. No excuse. It maybe a decent argument for leniency. We shall see. At the very least it has been an educational experience.

These are easy to fight but you will have to move it into 1A (regular district court) and spend more time in our lovely county court house. Gene will most likely give you an improper equipment in 1B (walk through court) unless Forsyth County DA's office has changed their policy on this. I don't do much traffic anymore but if you want I would be more than happy to meet you there and talk you through it.